Stein Mehren (16 May 1935 – 28 July 2017) was a Norwegian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

ist and playwright. He made his literary debut as poet with ''Gjennom stillheten en natt'' (1960). He wrote more than fifty books, mainly poetry."Stein Mehren"
– ''Dagbladet'' (Retrieved on February 21, 2008)

Background

Mehren was born in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

, Norway to physician and dentist Haakon Mehren (1910–38) and Solveig Marie Klaveness Bjerke (1908–55). He was a nephew of merchant Martin Mehren (1905–2002). After graduating from secondary school in 1953, Mehren studied philosophy at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

for several years.

Career

He made his literary debut with the poetry collection ''Gjennom stillheten en natt'' in 1960. Other collections from the 1960s are ''Alene med en himmel'' (1962), ''Mot en verden av lys'' (1963), ''Gobelin Europa'' (1965), ''Tids alder'' (1966), and ''Aurora. Det Niende Mørke'' (1969). Among his essay collections are ''Samtidsmuseet og andre tekster'' (1966), ''Maskinen og menneskekroppen'' (1970), and ''Myten og den irrasjonelle fornuft'' (two volumes, 1977 and 1980). He has written two plays, ''Narren og hans hertug'' (1968, staged at

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo ( no, Nationaltheatret) is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christia ...

), and ''Den store søndagsfrokosten'' (1976). In the 1970s he wrote two novels, ''De utydelige'' (1972) and ''Titanene'' (1974).

Awards

Mehren received the

Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature The Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature (''Den norske Kritikerprisen for litteratur'' or ''Kritikerprisen'') is awarded by the Norwegian Literature Critics' Association (''Norsk Litteraturkritikerlag'') and has been awarded every year since 1950 ...

and the

Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment is an annually awarded literary prize from the publishing house Aschehoug. The prize is a recognition of superior literary work. The publisher's editorial management makes the award based on their collective judgement ...

in 1963 for ''Mot en verden av lys''. He was awarded the Swedish Academy’s

Dobloug Prize The Dobloug Prize ( sv, Doblougska priset, no, Doblougprisen) is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug (1881–1944) pursuant to his bequest. T ...

in 1971. He received ''Aschehougprisen'' in 1973, the

Riksmål Society Literature Prize The Riksmål Society Literature Prize (''Riksmålsforbundets litteraturpris'') is awarded annually by the '' Riksmålsforbundet'' for the outstanding publication in riksmål. The prize was awarded until 2002 by the ''Oslo and Bærum Riksmål Leagu ...

in 1975, the

Fritt Ord Award Fritt Ord Award consists of two prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation (''Stiftelsen Fritt Ord''). Two prizes are awarded in support of freedom of speech and freedom of expression; the Fritt Ord Award ( no, Fritt Ords pris) and the Fritt Or ...

in 1979, the

Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl The Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl (''Det Norske Akademis Pris til minne om Thorleif Dahl'') is awarded annually by the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature (''Det Norske Akademi for Sprog og Litteratur''). The prize is ...

in 1987 and the ''Gyldendalprisen'' in 2004. In 1993, he was awarded the Anders Jahre Cultural Prize (''Anders Jahres kulturpris'') jointly with pianist Robert Levin.

Personal life

From 1964 to 1975 he was married to Tove Halvorsen, then to Siri Hjemdal from 1979 to 1981.

References

__NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Mehren, Stein 1935 births 2017 deaths Writers from Oslo University of Oslo alumni 20th-century Norwegian poets Norwegian male poets 20th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Norwegian essayists Dobloug Prize winners Norwegian male novelists Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights Male essayists 20th-century essayists 20th-century Norwegian male writers